Greatness of Maurice Smith

Been a long time since I did one and a long time coming for Mr. Smith! Maurice Smith was one of the best Kickboxers, EVER, he went undefeated for over a span of a decade. In 1993 Maurice made his MMA debut at Pancrase 3 against one of the founding fathers of Pancrase and one of the toughest Pancrase fighters ever, bar none.

Pancrase 3 Maurice Smith faces Minori Suzuki, in an entertaining fight Minori made a huge mistake, he stood with Maurice. Just over the 6 minute mark, Maurice knocked the ever loving shit out of Minori and the fight was over. Maurice's debut was a shocker and success.

At Pancrase Road to the Championship whadya know, guess who Maurice had to fight. Minori Suzuki, this time the match went into the 3rd round and Minori was able to get the fight to the mat and submit Maurice with an armbar 30 seconds into the 3rd.

In December of 1994 at Pancrase Road to the Championship Maurice fought on the under card against Takaku Fuke (16-28-5) another Pancrase vet. Fuke "stood" no chance (get it) and was knocked out in under 3 minutes.

Later that night in the 2nd round of the tournament Maurice was facing Ken Shamrock. In a pretty one sided fight, Maurice was taken down, grounded, and submitted in under 5 minutes. Ken would go on to win the tournament so no shame in losing to the tournament winner.

At Pancrase Eyes of the Beast 4 Maurice found himself facing the one and only Bas Rutten. The fight was entertaining while it was standing, and for once Bas was not the one dictating the stand up. So Bas went to the mat and kneebar'd Maurice in over 2 minutes.

At Pancrase Eyes of the Beast 6 Maurice Smith found himself in another rematch. This time fighting Bas Rutten again. It was another fun first round fight with good stand up and ending in under 5 minutes with Bas choking Maurice out.

Maurice Smith was 2-4 in his first 6 MMA fights, but that is ok, he fought 5 All Time Greats in his first 6 fights.

January of 1996 at Rings Maurice lost to Tsuyoshi Kosaka, the man Frank and Maurice would later join up with and form The Alliance. I have no information on this fight, there is no info on the time or how but Kosaka beat Maurice at Rings. At Rings 6 Maurice his 5th fight in a row to Kiyoshi Tamura by an armbar at just over 10 minutes.

Maurice is 2-6

Maurice then goes to Extreme Fighting, he is supposed to be a sacrificial lamb for undefeated Marcos Silviera (the champion of Extreme Fighting) in an amazingly entertaining stand up war Maurice Smith kicks the ever loving shit out of Silviera's head in the 3rd round and shocks basically everybody to win the Extreme Fighting Heavyweight Championship. At the time Extreme Fighting was the UFC's main competitor in USA. Maurice then goes to Rings again and loses to Akira Maeda.

Maurice returns to Extreme Fighting to defend his title against Kazunari Murakami (at the time 4-1). In another entertaining bout Maurice knocks out Kazunari with a punch after 4 minutes in the 1st round. Maurice is 4-7. This is where things get really interesting. Maurice Smith is offered to go fight in the UFC against their Heavyweight Champion Mark Coleman to Unify the 2 Organization's Heavyweight Champs.

Maurice accepts but he knows but knows he will need extensive ground training to fight Coleman. The funny thing is all the "experts" figured he would need to learn extensive wrestling, Maurice said getting taken down is inevitable I will learn how to survive when I am there. Maurice came and cross trained with the Lions Den. The plan is to go to the ground with Coleman instantly, wait him out and let him gas.

At UFC 14 the plan works perfect, Maurice goes down with the undefeated Coleman in his guard, for 9 minutes Coleman and Smith trade blows from guard. When Maurice made it to his feet at the 9 minute mark it was clear Coleman was gassed. For the next 12 minutes (15 minute fight and 2 3 minute Overtimes) Coleman was punched, leg kicked to death, and sprawled over and over. For the first time in UFC history a Striker had defeated a Wrestler. Maurice is the UFC Heavyweight Champion and had the MMA equivalent to the Rope A Dope. After the fight (the first UFC with Joe Rogan) Maurice thanked the Lions Den and Frank Shamrock. Frank, Tsuyishi Kosaka and Maurice would form "The Alliance" after this fight.

At UFC 15 Maurice made his first title defense against David "Tank" Abbott. The same gameplan that was used agaisnt Coleman was employed. Go tothe ground with Abbott, let him gas, get up then kick his ass. Maurice again got up and showed a great guard and great leg kicks. He actually stopped Abbott with leg kicks as Tank took one to many fell to the floor and said "Fuck that" (Abbott replaced Dan Severn on short term and was over 300 pounds in the fight)

2 months later December of 1997 at UFC 15.5 Ultimate Japan Maurice put his title on the line against Randy Couture. This time Maurice wasnt busy enough from the guard, and wasnt able to get up when he wanted to. Randy was able to take Maurice down and keep him down for most of the fight. After 21 Minutes (the 15 and 2 3 minute OT's) Randy Couture was awarded his first UFC title. Maurice is know 6-8.

Maurice Smith did not fight for a year and he returned in 1999 at UFC 19 against Mark Coleman's young stud Kevin Randleman in his UFC debut. Randleman was able to take Maurice down over the 15 minute fight, but I honestly thought Maurice was busy enough from his guard to win the fight. Never the less. Randleman was awarded the decision. Maurice is 6-9.

At UFC 21 Maurice was facing Marco Ruas (the other great kicker of the early UFC's) the 2 went to war for the first round which was a round Maurice won handidly IMO. When the time for the 2nd round came around Marco could not continue and Maurice was announced as the victor.

2 months later Maurice made only appearance in Pride at Pride 7 agasint Branko Cikatic, 7 minutes into the fight Maurice scored the first submission victory of his career with a choke. Later at WEF he rematches Marcos Silveira, in a fight Maurice is winning he gets submitted via arm triangle in the 2nd round. Maurice is 8-10.

Maurice than goes back to Rings and enters there King of Kings tournament. In the first round he wins a majority decision against Brandon Lee Hinkle. Later that night he is submitted in just under a minute by Renzo Gracie in the worst performance of his career.

In 2000, Maurice goes back to the UFC. At UFC 27 Maurice gets a Majority Decision over Bobby Hoffman in a less than spectacular performance. At UFC 28 Maurice losses an Decision to Renato Sobral. It is Maurices last fight in the UFC. Maurice retires and does not fight for 7 more years.

In 2007 Maurice goes to the IFL to fight Marco Ruas in a rematch for the IFL Heavyweight Title. In a great match that goes to the 4th round, Maurice forces Ruas' corner to throw in the towel. In 2008 Maurice submits Mark Roufus in StrikeForce in the first round and then losses to Hidehiko Yoshida via neck crank in Sengoku.

It is Maurice's last fight and he retires with a record of 12-13. Maurice was a Extreme Fighting Champion, UFC Champion, and IFL Champion. Maurice went 4-3 in the UFC, fought in every organization from UFC, Pride, Rings, StrieForce, Extreme Fighting, and Pancrase.

In his career he defeated greats such as Marco Ruas twice, Mark Coleman and Minori Suzuki, and beating good fighters like Marcos Silviera and Tank Abbott. Along with facing Ken Shamrock, Bas Rutten twice, Kevin Randleman, Renzo Gracie, Babalu Sobral, Tsuyishi Kosaka and Randy Couture.

Maurice vs Bas rematch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=701RhQ7rwLQ

Maurice Smith vs Mark Coleman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sBrXCrYkR4

Maurice vs Tank

http://www.kontratv.com/54692/maurice-smith-vs-tank-abbott

Maurice vs Marcos Silviera KO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuDTTcnVPbw

With the guys he was facing and the strategy he used it's no wonder he was a .500 fighter. His win loss record doesn't tell the whole story. But bird did. Good thread

thanks wolf, it really is impressive an elite kickboxer developed a great guard and offense from that guard, and his plan was to basically be in that guard, let you gas, then kick your ass/legs/or head, literally

glad you enjoyed it

Bird....the Marbleheadmaui of Ninja's Place! Awesome write up on Smith.

thanks jimbo glad ya enjoyed it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5tCLLrkn7g&NR=1&feature=fvwp

good highlight video